Secret of Otogakure: The Tale of Uchiha Sasuke
by LifeAndDeathShinobi
Summary: Full Summary inside. My first fanfic, a movie one too, come alive. They say that everywhere you go, there are dark secrets but people don't question them. So long as they're free and with love ones. But sooner or later, someone's gotta do something right
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hello guys. Yes I know, I know. Got a lot on my place but I just wanna try something. I want to know how I'll do in movie fics. This was actually my first fanfiction I posted up but it wasn't very popular so I took it down. Well guess what? It's coming back and I just feel like this story right now. This is inspired by the movie 'The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue' because it has such a cute brotherly bond in it!**

**Full Summary: Otogakure was a dark miserable place. For those who didn't know, the rumor was there used to be an evil mental institution that did more than study the minds of crazy patients. They used to experiment on humans instead of animals to further their research on the body and mind. However, it only gave the tested humans the ability to awaken a power inside of them – the power to control the physical and mental energy known as chakra and escape that dreadful place. With the evil now gone, those tested live in peace however there is a prophecy that Otogakure will soon rise up to power again and bring upon great calamity and destruction to those who survived the Great Escape. In order to protect themselves from such a threat, they must call upon a brave hero to save them all; the son of the man who saved them the first time, Uchiha Sasuke. However, can he do it? Can he survive the terrible dangers Otogakure has in store for him?**

**I do NOT OWN ANY of the Naruto characters or the story itself. Nor do I own the movie. They all belong to their writers and their publishers. Thank you all for your support before and after I put up the first chapter, I will give you all a treat for being such nice people. Thank you and enjoy!**

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**Secret of Otogakure: The Tale of Uchiha Sasuke**

A long time ago, there was a secret that no one ever suspected from a small country known as Otogakure. Not even its own citizens knew that such a dark secret existed. The country was praised as the home of a very promising mental institution that help those with sudden or lifelong mental conditions to become better, to be sociable, and above all, normal. However instead, it was a place of human experimentation. What mental patients? All of them were once normal people who were found wondering the streets – the homeless, the prostitutes, the beggars, and the runaways. Anyone who won't be missed for long.

The mental institution was run by a man known as Orochimaru – a man said to be the only insane person within those hell walls. He created the formulas and run the experiments on discovering the true strength within the human body. What he didn't realize what he had done was open up a door inside every human he tested on and their offspring to unleash something known as chakra. A combined energy mixed with the power of the mind and the body. With this chakra, the patients learned on how to use it and called themselves Shinobis. It didn't take long till they mastered it and escaped.

Such an event was known as The Great Event and the bravest Shinobis of them all were Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara. But even though they could save everyone else, their friends, and family, Hashirama could not save Madara and nor could Madara save himself.

The Nine-Tail Fox, or known as Kyuubi: the wisest and possibly the most powerful, frightening creature in all the world, and mastered by Uchiha Madara himself had this to say. _"Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara were the bravest of them all."_

In honor of their bravery, the Shinobis built a city in the Land of Fire known as Konohagakure and there lived freely and peacefully with the practice of their chakra put into good use. However Madara's widower, Uchiha Mikoto, choose not to live in that prosperous city and chose to go live in the quiet life of the forest in a home her and her husband dreamed of having with their children: Itachi - their eldest son, Suigetsu - their second eldest, Karin – their third child and their only daughter, and finally the youngest of them all, Sasuke.

Hashirama, before releasing his last breath from his old age, predicted that a son of Uchiha Madara will once again save the Shinobis from Otogakure when its evil once again threatens the very existence of Konoha.

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**Okay just to ask, but do you think I should make this Uchicest or just a very strong brotherly relationship? I'm still deciding and for those that know the movie, you know where I'm getting at right? Sorry that this first chapter is so short! But the real first chapter is longer! I swear!**

**How was it? Bad? Good? Let me know. See you in a few!**


	2. Training Gone BOOM

Ch. 1: Training Gone BOOM

"Nii-san!"

Hearing his little brother calling him, twelve-year old Uchiha Itachi looks up as young six-year old Uchiha Sasuke waves his arms with several kunai knives in each hand. "Hey, watch me! Watch me!"

Seeing how adorable Sasuke is with his excited, innocent black eyes and his overjoyed smile revealing his beautiful white teeth, Itachi couldn't help but allow his own smile to appear on his face. He tells his brother, "I'm watching."

Now with a cocky grin on his face, Sasuke jumps up high in the air and flips into an upside down position, eyes closed. He has four kunai knives in his right hand and three in his left. First he throws three, two from his right hand and one from his left in one direction. Then he throws two from the right in the opposite direction. When he counted the timing, he tosses the second kunai knife from his left hand to the right and throws both of them at the same time at two of the flying kunai knives. One knife hit the other but the other missed _(if I got the description wrong then I'm sorry! We all know that this is the technique from episode 128, the one that Itachi was showing Sasuke before Sasuke got his ankle twisted. I was watching the technique about a dozen times to get it right but I don't think I did. I'm sorry!)._ As Sasuke falls back down to the ground, he looks up to see that he missed but lands on his feet, watching as the missed kunai knife stabs the ground and the other flies through the air going somewhere. The other six knives hit their target straight on but Sasuke's attention is on the one that flew away. Itachi looks at the hit targets and smiles, proud to see how his little brother almost mastered the technique he showed him.

Sasuke stands up and tells his brother, "Nii-san, I'm gonna go get the kunai knife."

"Alright, but be careful," his brother warns.

Sasuke smiles with the blush on his face before saying, "Yes, nii-san!" Then he goes off to find the knife.

Itachi watches him go before chuckling while raising his hand to his forehead and allowing a true smile from the heart to appear. "How cute."

Sasuke runs through the forest he's lived in his whole life, jumping from one branch of the tree to the other. He wonders out loud, "Where is that kunai knife? Suigetsu nii-san will be mad with me if I lost another one of his kunai knives." After he said that, he sees the shiny knife sparking in the sunlight. His face perks up from the sight of it. "Gotcha!"

But right when he lands on the last branch before landing on the ground, there is a sutra underneath the branch that is designed to go off from the weight of something heavy on the branch. Sasuke lands on it and it explodes.

_Boom_

Hearing the blast, Itachi looks where he heard it and he sees some smoke rising up to the skies from where his little brother should be. "Sasuke!" he whispers, before going off into a run.

Sasuke comes out of the cloud of smoke by leaping backwards, his arms covering his face and upper torso to protect himself. He just missed the full extent of that bomb. Right when he could see again, he sees a shadow appear above him. Before he knew it, he's hit with something that feels like metal pipes. A cage falls on him and forces him to the ground. While the cage stabs the ground and locks with the bottom half of it, it traps Sasuke inside and he hits his head on the hard metal beneath him. He lets out a moan before blacking out. He lays there, unconscious and the alarm on top of the cage goes off, sending signals and flashing red lights.

Far off from this area, the one holding the tracker of the trap looks at the screen when it beeped and sees an area blinking. A man who could be in his early twenties with mid length white hair that's tied back into a low pony tail and round glasses calls, "Dr. Orochimaru!"

Orochimaru, a sickly pale white man with long black hair and golden, snake like eyes, looks at his white hair apprentice, Kabuto and he reports, "We have a signal. It might be one of the shinobis!" Then he goes off running into the direction the tracker directs him with Orochimaru following.

However arriving before them, Itachi looks at the cage and gasps when he sees his little brother trapped inside and unconscious. Right when he was going to move, he senses movement coming and coming fast. He raises both hands and forms a hand signal before closing his eyes and concentrating.

'_Sharingan!'_

He opens his eyes and instead of the onyx eyes he had before, they're red with black tomoe signs surrounding the pupil.

Finally arriving, Kabuto and Orochimaru look at the cage only to see that it's empty. Seeing the results, they walk closer and Orochimaru observes the cage as Kabuto looks at his surrounds.

"I don't see a dead body anywhere so he must have escaped the cage," Kabuto reports.

"No," Orochimaru corrects. "The cage doesn't appear to be tampered with. The shinobi must have dodged it."

"But how is that possible? Your calculations are never wrong!"

Orochimaru smirks from the young man's strong belief in him. "I'm not right all the time. Otherwise, we wouldn't be here now, would we?"

Before his co-worker could say anything else, a shuriken shoots out of the forest and hits the ground right next to Orochimaru's feet. They both flinch from the sudden appearance and they look behind Orochimaru to see a black shadow running away.

"There it goes!"

Both Kabuto and Orochimaru chase after the black shadow, running farther and farther away from the cage. When they became far enough, Itachi came out from the cover of the trees from the opposite side of direction of where Orochimaru and Kabuto ran to. He still has the Sharingan eyes activated and he runs to the cage, his feet hardly making a sound. He stands in front the cage and his eyes return back to onyx. In doing so, the image of the cage changes. Before, there was nothing inside the cage and now Sasuke is still inside the cage but now he's awake and he's shivering in the corner.

"N-Nii-san," he shutters in fear.

"Shh, shh, shh," Itachi tells him. "Relax. I'm going to get you out of here." He examines the cage and Sasuke looks like he's panicking.

"Hurry! They might come back!"

His older brother doesn't say anything. He continues to examine this horrid cage that's trapping his little brother inside. Usually, Itachi is a patient man but the longer he can't figure out how to open the cage that's keeping his brother inside, the more impatient he becomes. Finally he had enough.

"Sasuke, get back."

A bit confused at first, Sasuke backs away to the far corner of the cage, away from his brother and Itachi stands up and takes a couple of back steps himself. He activates his Sharingan again and then concentrates a little more of his chakra to his eyes. From what Sasuke could see, he sees Itachi's right eye starting to leak tears of blood. He knows what that means as Itachi opens his eyes, revealing their new pinwheel shape design, and black flames appear at the top of the cage.

'_Amaterasu!_'

Sasuke watches the black flames burning the metal pipes with slight fear, hoping that he doesn't get touched with any of these black flames because once he's burned, that it's. He'll turn to ash and there is no way to extinguish those flames. Except by the one who conquers them.

He whimpers in fear and Itachi closes his bleeding eye. Allowing the flames to create a big hole in the cage, Itachi waits until it was the right size before opening the eye again. Slowly but surely, the flames get smaller and smaller until they have completely disappeared. His eyes relax back into his normal Sharingan and then he reaches for Sasuke. He grabs his older brother's hand and allows him to pull himself out of it. Now safely out, Itachi pulls him away and begins to run but Sasuke stands his ground.

"Wait!" he yells. Itachi looks at him confused. Wasn't he the one who said to hurry? "We have to get Suigetsu nii-san's kunai knife!" He points to the knife still sparkling in the sunlight and Itachi lets out an annoyed sigh. Oh for the love of…

He pulls Sasuke to a tree for him to hide incase those two scientists come back and tells him, "Stay here." Then he runs to the knife, his little brother praying that there aren't any more traps.

His prayers weren't answered.

As Itachi gets closer and closer to the knife, he trips a wire. He noticed. Before that explosion goes off, Itachi uses incredible speed to jump away, landing on another explosive branch. He jumps away just as fast from that too and Sasuke gasps with every explosion that goes off near his brother. Finally, Itachi lands right next to the knife and grabs it as a fishnet starts falling on him.

"Nii-san, look out!"

Itachi looks up and his first thought became as he observes the falling trap, _'Fireproof, iron ropes.'_

Since he already has a kunai knife in his hand, he throws it at the fishnet and it hits the alarm on the rope, causing it to get pinned to the tree. He goes to it and takes the knife and backs away from the booby trapped area. Who knows if any of those traps are activated and he's not going to wait to find out. He grabs his little brother's wrist and runs off using his super speed. Sasuke had a hard time keeping his feet on the ground but right now, he can't ask his brother to slow down, especially when he can see that his brother is already really agitated.

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**Hey guys! Yes I know, this chapter is short compared to what I usually write but remember. This is my first fanfic coming back to life and really, I cut this chapter in half with the second chapter because it would have been too long for a first chapter. Also compared to the prologue, this is still longer than that.**

**Anyway, I hope you're enjoying this! I still need help on what to do with these two. Just make it a brotherly love thing or yaoi. I love my Uchihacest but I love their brotherly bond too.**

**Thank you all for readying this and second chapter will be up soon! Wait for it! I DO NOT OWN the Naruto characters or their story or the movie this story is inspired by. Thank you everyone!**


	3. You're Worth More Than You Think

Ch. 2: You're Worth More Than You Think

After running for the past ten or fifteen minutes and believing themselves to be safely away from that area and those scientists, both Uchiha brothers stop behind a tree and collapse on the grass. They sit down at the base of the tree with their backs against the trunk and they start panting from the excitement and the panic of that area and for sprinting for so long. One of them isn't used to so much sprinting. Both brothers are physically exhausted. Their chests are rising up and down with each breath they gained back for their lungs. They ran a good ten miles away from that danger zone, the sweat starting to appear on their brows. It took them a moment to relax enough to breathe in through the nose and out the mouth. As their heart rates go back to normal beating, Itachi raises the kunai knife and stares at it.

"Suigetsu better appreciate getting this back or there'll be hell to pay," he mumbles, putting it down on the ground, along with his arm. It feels like lead.

Sasuke looks up at his older brother and he sees that his eyes are back to onyx but the blood is still there on his face. His own eyes become glossy and they're full of guilt and shame. "I'm sorry, nii-san."

Itachi looks at the little boy besides him and asks, "For what?"

"If I haven't been so careless in getting the kunai knife back or when we were training, this wouldn't have happened. I was so scared, nii-san." He brings himself closer and wraps his arms around his older brother's arm. He snuggles closer, not wanting to look up at Itachi and reveal his soon-to-cry eyes. Itachi is a little surprise to hear this but soon a warm smile appears on his face.

He stabs the knife on the ground and uses his now free hand to pet Sasuke's head. Sasuke look up then and he sees Itachi's smile. "It was a trap and you're still training. One day, you will detect them instantly and I'm gonna need you to save me next time." He moves his hand to behind Sasuke's head and pulls him closer as he leans his cheek against the top of his baby brother's head. "But until then, I will protect you from anyone who tries to hurt you, my precious otouto."

Sasuke's cheeks turn red from the kind words and the warm touch of his brother but that wasn't why he was blushing. He wasn't scared for his own life. He was scared for his older brother. If anything happened to him because of his carelessness, Sasuke would never forgive himself or the men who would dare hurt him. For now, he let it go and close his eyes to relax in his brother's hold. "Thank you, nii-san. I'm sorry I ruined the day though. It's our last day together and you were finally able to teach me some shuriken techniques. Hashirama-sama should have chosen you to go to Konoha instead of me."

"Sasuke, listen to me." Itachi allows Sasuke to pull away so that he could look at him. He stares at his little brother in the eye as he tells him, "I'm the one who should be sorry. I've been so busy with things that weren't even important when you are far more important than them. I chose the day you were leaving to spend time with you. I'm sorry for being so last minute." His hands cup his little brother's face and he softly kisses Sasuke's forehead. Sasuke felt warmth when his brother kissed him and he missed the warmth when the kiss ended. But it came back when Itachi wraps his arms around his tiny form and brings him closer. "Besides, you will learn great things in Konoha and became an amazing shinobi, even greater than father. There was a reason why Hashirama-sama chose you."

"But I'm not amazing," Sasuke mumbles, his voice muffled by Itachi's chest. "You're the best at everything and all I do is mess everything up."

Itachi's hold around his little brother tightens and he tells him, "You are by far the most amazing person I know. Let's not be so negative all the time, okay? I don't want the day to end with me trying to convince you that you're wrong about yourself."

Sasuke feels the same. He doesn't want his last moments to keep denying the fact that he's not as special as his older brother and how it should be Itachi who should be the shinobi of Hashirama's prophecy. But that would mean Itachi would have to go instead. Either way they will be separated but at least Sasuke would feel a little better with the fact that his amazing brother would be off to become an even more amazing shinobi.

Sasuke raises his arms a little more and returns the gesture. A warm, happy smile appears on his face. "Alright, nii-san." Every time that he gets a hug from his brother, he feels the love that Itachi has for him. He hopes when he hugs his nii-san, he feels the same love his younger brother feels for him, too. Itachi's arms are always so warm and strong. He feels safe in those arms and he feels so free and light, as if he were to turn into a feather and fly up to the heavens. If only he can stay like this forever, but even sweet moments must be short lived.

_Cry, cry_

Itachi looks up at the blue and white sky above him and he sees a hawk flying by over head. He knows what that means and he had to suppress a groan to not upset Sasuke further. He breaks the hug and Sasuke looks up at him, like he just suddenly came back to reality. All he sees on Itachi's face is his smile and his gentle, loving eyes. Itachi raises his hand to his face and uses two of his fingers to flick his little brother's forehead.

"It's time to go, otouto. Otherwise, you'll miss your flight," he says.

Sasuke rubs the spot on his forehead that Itachi just flickered and he grumbles, "Why must you always do that to me, nii-san? It makes me feel like you think of me as a pest."

"Well I promise you this," Itachi says, this time lightly tapping Sasuke's nose with his finger. "You are certainly not a pest and you're the only person who I do that too. Don't tell but Suigetsu is the real pest and what do I do to him when he's annoying?"

"You glare daggers at him, causing him to shiver uncontrollably and allow him to see his own death become a reality in your eyes?" Sasuke asks, trying to remember what happens.

Itachi nods. "Correct, otouto. I don't do that to you now do I?" Since the smile is still on his face, Sasuke couldn't stay mad at his eldest brother for long. He soon smiles and his cheeks turn a bit pink from the blood flowing through his face. Then Itachi remembers something. "Oh yes. I have something for you, Sasuke." His face lights up.

"You do?" he asks, now excited. "What is it, what is it?"

Itachi is rummaging through his pockets while Sasuke is ready to jump and down with excitement and impatience. "Hold on…" Then he found it. His face told Sasuke that. "Now close your eyes."

"Ah…" Sasuke whines. "Why?"

Itachi's two fingers go to one eyeball and it gently presses against the lid. "Let's not be difficult, okay otouto?" Pouting but obeying, Sasuke closes his eyes at the same time that Itachi pushes an eyelid down, the excitement still bubbling up inside despite the sour expression on his face. Soon he feels something over his head and then something a little heavy resting on his neck and chest. "You can open your eyes now."

When Sasuke did, his first reaction is looking down on his chest to see a rather long necklace. It looks simple but to Sasuke, it's the most beautiful thing he's ever seen in his life – even more beautiful when a young girl sees a wedding ring. It's a locket and from the front, it looks like the Uchiha crest; a red and white fan. It even has a small white handle sticking out. When Sasuke holds the locket, he feels that the handle is only on the front and it feels a little different on the back. When he flips it over, he's surprise to see only the sharingan symbol – a red cylinder with three tomoes surrounding the black pupil in the center. The reason why Sasuke thinks it's so beautiful is because the necklace is homemade and very well crafted like it was created by the gods. Itachi is a god, to Sasuke's eyes. Also the fact that Itachi made it for him and him alone, it makes the locket all the more special. His whole face brightens into a truly happy expression and the smile proves to Itachi how much he likes it.

"Nii-san!" Sasuke looks back at his older brother and says, "It's beautiful! I love it! What's in it?"

Now getting all excited, Itachi couldn't help but laugh at his little brother, especially when the boy tries to open the locket but can't. Sasuke's excitement turns into frustration as he continues to try and open the stubborn locket but so far, no luck. When he was able to stop, he answers, "It's a picture of our family. That way, you will know that your family is always with you and if you ever feel lonely or sad, you can always open it up and we'll be right there to comfort you."

"That would be nice, if I can open it." Sasuke tries a little harder to open it now with teeth gritting together and eyes closed tight shut. Soon he feels his nii-san's fingers brush against his. He sees Itachi grasp the locket from his hands before he broke it.

"There's a trick to it," he tells him. Then like magic, the locket opens. Itachi made it so easy that it made Sasuke feel like an idiot.

But before he could say anything, he looks inside and he sees two pictures. Itachi hands him back the locket and Sasuke looks at the two pictures inside. The first picture he sees is the picture of his family. He recognizes the family picture that they took several weeks ago. They were all lined up into two rows for that picture. The back row has their mother, Mikoto and Sasuke's other two siblings. The mother is standing in between her two children and she looks nervous to be there, like a lost kitty in the middle of a dog fight. One of them is a female who could be no older than Sasuke than by three years. She has the most unusual hair style. Half of it is long and neat as the other half is short and rather messy as the ends of it defies gravity. Her hair color is red and it matches her crimson red eyes. Unlike Sasuke's and Itachi's skin tone, which is usually moon pale, her skin is several shades darker. It's actually the same shade as the other teenager. He looks like he could be five years older than Sasuke. He has a rather cute face with big beady purple eyes and short white hair complimenting his tan skin. Sasuke knows that the boy would be willing to smile twenty-four seven, if he wasn't glaring at the female on the other side of mother. She's glaring at him the same way and they look a little childish. Standing in front of them, in the front row is Sasuke and Itachi. Sasuke remembers that day where he asked Itachi to sit down so that he could wrap his arms around him from behind for the picture. Itachi wasn't looking at the picture. He's looking at Sasuke from the corner of his eyes with a small, gentle smile on his face as Sasuke's face is just beaming with happiness. The second picture on the other side of the locket has a picture of only him and his nii-san. Itachi is holding him in his arms, Sasuke's arms are wrapped around Itachi's neck and his cheek gently presses against Itachi's cheek. They're both smiling with the exact amount of joy and happiness for being so close. The only difference in the smiles is that Itachi doesn't look as excited as Sasuke's. He just looks really happy to have his otouto in his arms. Sasuke remembers when that picture was taken. It was on the same day as the family picture was taken. Suigetsu and Karin were going crazy with it and that was why they both have sour faces in the family picture. They're always fighting.

Remembering that, Sasuke's cheeks turn into a light color of pink and his face is beaming with happiness. "Suigetsu nii-san and Karin nee-san were acting so silly that day."

"Yes, very silly," Itachi agrees. "Childish more like it. Now let's go."

"Hold on!" Itachi looks at Sasuke in confusion before he felt Sasuke's hand on the nape of his neck and leaning closer. "You still have blood on your face, nii-san." Before he could say anything, Sasuke's tongue begins to lick off the blood. Itachi feels the blood rushing to his face as he continues to feel the warm tongue lick his face clean.

"Sa-..Sasuke!" he tries to call, his eye that was bleeding closed and the very soft shade of red on his cheeks. Sasuke didn't notice and when he was done, he kisses his brother's closed eye.

He asks, "Does it still hurt?" His hand that was on his brother's neck moves to his face and his finger trace the area where the blood trail was. The confusion on Itachi's face melts away into warmth at the sight of his little brother's concerned, still sorry face.

"It's fine now. Thank you."

Itachi leans his forehead against Sasuke's with a smile still on his face and Sasuke has some blush on his cheeks for what he's going to say next. "But after you use your Mangekyo Sharingan and the Amaterasu, doesn't your eyes still hurt?"

Itachi knows where he's getting at. "Don't worry about it so much, otouto. As I told you before, it's all worth it so long as you're safe. Must I keep repeating myself?" Then after he said that, he lets out a frustrated sigh, making Sasuke confused. The older Uchiha pulls away from the younger Uchiha and turns to the bushes at the side. "You might as well come out. You know you can't hide from me."

Sasuke soon hears ruffling in the bushes and looks to see the short white hair man from the locket picture come out with a half smirk on his face, revealing his shark-like, sharp teeth. "Sharp as always. But you gotta give me credit for one thing. I'm getting a little better at sneaking up on you two."

Uchiha Suigetsu, the second eldest child of the Uchiha family; older than Sasuke by five years but younger than Itachi by two.

"Why are you here?" Itachi asks, getting rather annoyed with his other younger brother.

Suigetsu pouts from Itachi's foul attitude. He gets out of the bushes and tells them, "I came to find you two. Didn't you hear mother calling? Jiraiya isn't going to wait for Sasuke otouto forever you know." He even points up at the sky to prove his point. Sasuke looks up and he sees the same hawk from before circling around them.

_Cry, cry_

Itachi closes his eyes to keep his frustrations within himself as Sasuke pouts again. Suigetsu asks, "But one question! Can I have my kunai knives back before you leave?"

"You can have this one now." A second later, Itachi throws the kunai knife that was resting at his side at Suigetsu and he only had a second to stop it by clapping his hands together in front of his face. Sasuke stares at this in awe at his eldest brother's speed and Suigetsu looks rather nervous and taken by surprise by that attack.

Suigetsu mumbles, "I swear, every time you do something like that, it's like you're trying to kill me."

"Just keeping you on your toes, little brother." Itachi then stands up and bends down to reach for Sasuke. He picks him up, his hands lifting him up from under his armpits. "Okay. Let's go, otouto."

"Nii-san," Sasuke whines, his cheeks pink again. "I can walk."

"Don't push yourself," Itachi tells him, his gentle smile on his face again. "We were running non-stop for ten miles and you're going to need your energy for when you arrive in Konoha. I believe there will be a big celebration for the arrival of the great hero of prophecy."

Now Sasuke is even more embarrassed. "Nii-san…"

"Not to interrupt you two," Suigetsu interrupts the touching brotherly love being played in front of him. "But we can't waste any more time. Come on, let's get going." This time it becomes Sasuke who pouts from the rude interruption. He looks so cute that it causes Itachi's smile to become sweeter instead of turning it into an annoyed frown. He's acting like Suigetsu isn't even there.

'_Why is it that Sasuke otouto always gets the special treatment? I'm his brother too, you know. He only smiles like that with him and he treats us like strangers. Like intruders…'_

Suigetsu then turns around and starts walking back home. Itachi follows with Sasuke safely in his arms.

'_Never mind. I already know the answer anyway.'_

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**So there's the third. I hope you're all enjoying this. **


	4. This Might be Goodbye Forever

**A/N: Hello people! Just to make sure that I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth here, I am adding this chapter and this is a little sad because Sasuke is saying good bye to his family, including Itachi. You guys might like how Itachi is taking his little brother's departure and the majority of you might throw bricks at me.**

**I do NOT OWN ANY of the Naruto character or the movie this story is based off. For those who know this movie, I am telling you that this story is going to have some big differences between the two. The plot is still sort of the same but I'm making a few tweaks to make it my own; as much as I can at least. Thank you all who've read and supported this story and I applaud to those who still wait patiently for my other stories. Thank you and enjoy!**

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Ch. 3: This Might be Goodbye Forever

"Where the heck were you two?" a rather angry looking red hair screams as soon as her three brothers appear. She's especially screaming at the two raven heads, causing Sasuke to try and hide away from her.

"So scary…" he mumbles, his voice almost a whimper as he leans against his nii-san's neck. Itachi only chuckles before raising a hand to the frightened Uchiha's arm as comfort. Karin continues to scream.

"We've been calling you for god knows how long! Then when you two didn't show up, I had to give the stupid pond of water directions on where to find you because he knows I'm going to bite your heads off when I found you! What the hell were you two doing?"

Suigetsu answers, "The two love birds over here were making out when I found them," before Itachi was going to scold her about her use of profanity. After that answer, there was only a moment of silence before the demon is released.

A glowing red hand shots out from behind Suigetsu, over his shoulder and soon, the whole arm appears. The glowing hand grabs his neck, blocking the chakra flow so that the white hair won't escape and the hand squeezes. Suigetsu already knows who the hand belongs too and he's a bit afraid to look up or he might see his own death being played in Itachi's furious, Sharingan eyes. But instead of looking at how dangerous Itachi is right now, he hears it when he hears his older whisper in his ear, "Don't say such inappropriate things. We have infants present here and I'm sure you don't want to die as one. So I suggest you stop spitting out lies or keep your mouth shut. Unless, you want me to do that for you."

Itachi can feel his younger brother shivering under his hand and he can sense the fear inside his trembling body. Before the boy goes into shock, Itachi releases him and Suigetsu instantly pulls away and takes several steps back away from his older brother. He rubs his neck and wonders, _'What about violence? You want to reveal that more than sexual harassment?'_

Itachi still looks kind of dangerous as Sasuke smiles and giggles from Suigetsu's reaction. His giggles cause the oldest Uchiha to calm his anger and Sasuke comments, "Nii-san can scare anyone. He's so cool!" Itachi eventually puts on a half smile from Sasuke's words and Suigetsu narrows his eyes and his mouth becomes partially open. A face of disbelief and slight disgust.

He has one brow twitching as thinks, _'How is being able to scare the living crap out of anyone a cool thing?'_

Then Sasuke glares at him, not as dangerous as Itachi's. It's cute but the meaning of the glare is still there. "But Suigetsu nii-san, you shouldn't lie. Nii-san and I did no such thing!"

'_Sure, that's what the blood licking was all about.'_

"Sasuke."

The four siblings look up, two looking over their shoulders and the other two looking over theirs, to see a beautiful middle aged woman looking at them with so much love and compassion in her black eyes. With her long silky black hair, her fragile looking pale skin, her affectionate black eyes, and the gentle smile on her face, her beauty resembles that of an angel. Besides her is an elderly woman that's half of the angel's height, squinty eyes, a bruised looking nose, her hair sticking up, and a cat ear headband on the top of her head. She looks more like a cat than anything else.

"Mama…Granny Cat," Sasuke calls, acknowledging their presence.

The whole Uchiha family is standing in a small clearing, protected by the tall trees all around them. It's a nice grassy area with comforting sunshine, gentle flowers, and strong trees. Not too far from the family is a stream flowing south but that stream is several yards away. Still, the area is beautiful and this is where Sasuke will depart from his family to Konoha.

His mother, Mikoto opens her arms to him and says, "Sasuke, come here."

Sasuke turns to Itachi and says, "Nii-san, you can put me down now. I can walk." Itachi's grin came back as he looks at his little brother.

"You're still tired from running so much." Then he starts walking towards his mom with Sasuke still in his arms.

"Nii-san! Put me down!" He tries to struggle out of his big brother's hold but he's got a good hold on him. It made Sasuke upset until he was passed into his mother's arms. He looks up at her and she holds him tightly but gently against her warm body.

"My little baby is going away. I know that you will learn great things and become a fine shinobi like your father."

"But mama-"

_Cough_

He looks behind him and he sees Itachi smiling at him again. Oh course he coughed. He didn't want to start this up again. Sasuke is just stubborn but since his nii-san wants him to drop it, he does.

Sasuke can feel his mother pulling him closer to her and she whispers, "I'll miss you, my little one. I love you, Sasuke."

"I love you too, mama," he responds, hugging her back and his small fists clenching the clothes on her body.

Then Granny Cat tells him, "Now remember to show respect to your teachers and to keep an open mind to new things and new information."

"Yes, Granny Cat."

Mikoto places Sasuke down on the ground and he walks over to the old woman so that he could hug her. "I'll miss you too. Tell Henka and Renka that too for me, okay?"

She smiles at the young boy in front of her and then pets his head as if he were a cat. "Will do, young Sasuke."

"Mother."

Mikoto looks up at her eldest son from his call and he asks her, "Where is Master Jiraiya? I would think he would be here since he is Sasuke's ride."

"Well, he's right here!" they hear a rather enthusiastic, loud voice scream from above. They look and they see a man falling from the sky and landing on the ground between them and the stream with a loud _boom_, almost the same sound a bomb makes once it explodes. Since it was closer to Sasuke and Granny Cat than anyone else, the boy's first reaction is letting go of his granny and running to Itachi.

"Aah! Nii-san!" he screams, running behind him and hiding. The older Uchiha looks unsurprised by the making of a crater that's now making its appearance after some of the dust begins to clear up. He does however, allow his eyes to follow Sasuke as he ran behind him and cling to his pants.

"Master Jiraiya doesn't like to be kept waiting, little man!"

The two of them look up at the crater and as the dust and dirt clear up even more, they begin to see the form of a man in the center of that crater. But then he jumps out of the hole and on the ground a few feet away from the edge. He appears to be the same age as Granny Cat, or maybe younger by a couple of years. But from his body structure, he could have the body of a well built thirty year old man with hard rock muscles all around. His skin is rather tan and he has long, bushy white hair. It's the kind of hair you would expect to see on Japanese paintings of demon lords or animal spirits. From how he's dressed, he's a sage and from what the Uchiha family knows that he loves to keep blabbering about, he's a told sage.

He gets into his enthusiastic character as he yells out, "I maybe a patient man but I will not wait for anyone! Especially when that person just so happens to be the honorable son of Uchiha Madara of the prophecy and is a good hour late! I may not look it but I have other things I would rather do!"

Then Sasuke comes out from behind his brother and asks in an innocent, adorable voice, "You mean spy on women in the bathroom while they're bathing and writing about it in your Icha Icha series that hardly anybody is interested in except porn lovers?"

The moment he says that, there becomes a long and dead silence. It was so silent that they all heard the birds chirping away at least ten trees away from them. Then Suigetsu bursts out laughing few seconds later.

"Aahahahaha!" he bellows, laying on his back and tears in his eyes. Sasuke looks at him confused as Itachi, Mikoto, Jiraiya, and Granny Cat are completely expressionless. Karin on the other hand has her hand covering her mouth, the other wrapped around her stomach, and tears in her eyes as well. "S…s…Sasuke o..outot-to! That was awesome! You hit the mark perfectly" Sasuke is still confused. The only thing he is certain of is that Suigetsu and Karin are laughing at what he said. That must not be good.

Then Suigetsu goes up to him and raises his hand up for a high five. "High five, my little brother. You did your older brother proud!"

Karin appears behind him and lets a few giggles escape before saying, "That was brilliant, Sasuke otouto!"

"You two…"

They didn't have to guess who that was. They tensed up, already feeling the icy glare stopping their laughter from continuing. They dared to look up at Itachi, terrified as they are while Sasuke looks up unaffected by his elder brother's wrathful eyes. Itachi is as scary as HELL. Enough said. That and he looks like the demon lord, coming out from the depths of hell to rein terror and mayhem on the world.

"I suggest you don't encourage this any further than you already have. I know Sasuke didn't make that analogy by himself."

'_Actually I/he did,'_ the three of them think.

Nervously, Mikoto turns to Jiraiya and quickly says, "I am so sorry for what my son said. I know he doesn't mean it."

Jiraiya recovers and tells the nervous Lady Uchiha, "It's quite alright. I'm just surprised that a young boy of six would say something like that."

Mikoto looks back at her children – one of them turning into the devil, the two facing and fearing the devil, and the one observing – and she says, "I'm sure Itachi will take care of the influencers."

"As much as I would love to watch him do that, I'm afraid that I must take Sasuke to Konoha now. We're late enough as it is."

Hearing that causes Itachi's death glare to disappear and be replaced with wide, hurtful eyes. It even causes Sasuke's grip to tighten on his brother's clothing. Since they are distracted, it gives Suigetsu and Karin a bit of a breather for the time being. Mikoto looks sad but understanding as she nods her head at the toad sage.

"Of course."

Being approved, Jiraiya puts on a smile before turning to the side while biting his thumb till it bleeds and quickly making the hand signs. When he was done, he slams his hand to the ground and calls, "Kuchiyose no jutsu! The art of summoning!" Then a puff of smoke appears and it's big. When the smoke clears, a giant orange and blue spotted toad appears with big yellow eyes. Then it opens its mouth and sticks out its tongue so that it can lie on the ground. Happily, Jiraiya calls out, "All aboard for the Konoha village!" But gazing at the toad and its open mouth, it causes the whole Uchiha family to turn grey with uncertainly and dread. Especially Sasuke.

"Nii-san," he calls. "Why do I have to ride inside a toad? Why can't I ride on one of your crows? At least I know I won't be eaten."

Hearing that causes Jiraiya to nearly fall down. Did this kid just diss his fabulous toad?

Itachi tells his little brother, "I would if I could but then I would end up staying at Konoha and no one else in our family can control the crows. I don't want my little brother to be alone in that village but they asked for one son of Uchiha Madara and one son they're going to get." Sasuke looks up at him and he sees him smiling so warmly at him, like always. "I promise the toad isn't going to eat you."

Before the young Uchiha could argue about it, a pair of arms appears behind him and steals him away from Itachi. Everyone watches as Suigetsu begins to squeeze the life out of the little boy. "We're gonna miss ya, squirt! Don't forget about us, kay?"

"Ah… Suigestu nii-san!" Sasuke gasps. "I..can't…breathe!"

_Bonk_

Suigetsu got hit in the head by Karin's fist and stops squeezing Sasuke. The little boy looks up and Karin yells at her more stupid, older brother. "Stop trying to kill the kid, Suigetsu baka! What's the whole point of sending him to Konoha if you're gonna kill him?" But before Sasuke could thank her for saving his life, she picks him up and cuddles him to her as if he were a life size plushy doll. "You're so cute, Sasuke-kun! We really are going to miss you! Don't forget to write back to us, kay?" She says this with a baby voice and while rubbing her head against his. Now Sasuke is really starting to feel uncomfortable with all of this hugging and cuddling.

"N…Nii-san! Help me!" he finally yells. Then a dark aura fills the air. Karin didn't have to ask or even look behind her to know that Itachi is speaking with his eyes – 'Let him go, NOW Karin.'

Karin chuckles nervously when she stops the cuddling and she says, "How about we give you to mom now, huh?" Before he could answer, she quickly rushes to her mom and passes Sasuke to her. She holds on to Sasuke into another lovable hug but not as hard as her children's.

"Don't forget to write, okay Sasuke?" she asks.

He nods, finally being able to hug her back and not get crushed to death. "I promise, mama." Then the hold gets tighter. He thought too soon.

"Oh my little baby!" she cries, her hold getting tighter than Karin's and Suigetsu's.

"Mother, please." The broken, possibly dying Sasuke is pulled out of her arms and is now in the arms of his nii-san. "You're killing him."

Recomposing himself now that he's safe in Itachi's arms, Sasuke doesn't hesitate. He instantly hugs his brother. It took Itachi by surprise since it was sudden and then he hears Sasuke's small voice being muffled from his shirt, "I'll miss you most of all, nii-san. Thank you for everything." Sasuke couldn't help it when the tears began to gather in his eyes but at least he was able to not make a sound when they rolled down his face. Feeling the cold liquid on his shoulder and feeling how tightly his youngest brother is holding him, he hugs him back – lot gentler than all the other hugs and still so full of love and care.

Then Sasuke hears three words spoken very softly from Itachi's lips so that only he can hear. "I love you, Sasuke."

It sort of became a sort of surprise that Itachi said them. They have a close relationship but Sasuke never heard words of affection escape his nii-san's lips for anyone. Not even him, till now. To hear them made Sasuke very happy and allow a truly happy smile from the heart appear. Thinking that this is a secret between them both, he whispers with the same volume, "I love you too, nii-san."

He hears his brother chuckle. His arms wrap around him a little more and Sasuke can feel something pounding inside him. Something that unleashes waves of warmth and calm to pulse through his veins. It made his cheeks red but since he's already crying, no one else will be able to tell that he's blushing except for himself. "One day, you'll understand."

"Uh?"

Itachi looks at his younger brother's confused face and smiles. Sasuke truly is nothing else but adorable. He was so confused by his older brother's words that he didn't notice that he was in front of the toad he's supposed to be riding in until Itachi puts him inside of the mouth.

"I guess then I'll take the tongue," Jiraiya says, stepping on top of the toad's tongue as it lifts him up inside the mouth.

Quickly, Sasuke calls, "Nii-san! Will I…Will I see you again?"

Since the day they were told that Sasuke has to go to Konoha alone, having to leave his family, and become a hero they're not even sure will be needed, Itachi not once looked sad as Sasuke was crying his eyes out. He was always so supporting and only now after that question does the boy see the mask of sadness on his elder brother's face.

"I don't know."

Sasuke's eyes widen when he heard that and it felt like his heart just stopped. Then everything begins happening too fast.

Jiraiya waves at the Uchiha family and says, "See ya! I swear Sasuke will arrive in Konoha in one piece and alive!"

Mikoto smiles at him and says, "Oh, I believe that."

Suigetsu asks the old perverted toad sage, "You know how to get there right? I would hate for Sasuke otouto to be even more late because he got lost."

"You youngsters have no faith in my sense of direction. Of course I know where Konoha is! It's…" then he lost it. "It's…it's…"

Letting out a sigh, Itachi removes his eyes from his little brother for only a second to look at the old shinobi to say, "It's south by south by south," then he looks back Sasuke.

Jiraiya grumbles, "I knew that. Well then, say goodbye to the hero of prophecy."

Suigetsu waves at his little brother and says, "Bye-bye, Sasuke! Have fun in Konoha!"

Karin puts on her tough façade and yells, "You better write. Ya hear me?"

A sad yet happy smile appears on Mikoto's face as she tells her son, "We love you, Sasuke. Be good, okay?"

But Sasuke doesn't acknowledge any of them. His eyes have been on his nii-san since he answered his question. His little hands are already in fists and they're shaking. He doesn't want this.

Then Itachi smiles, giving him one last warm smile that he would give to no one else but him. Then the mouth begins to close, going to block his view from him, possibly forever. That's what broke him out of his trance.

"Nii-san!" he calls, reaching for him right when the mouth closes. As soon as the toad now holds both Jiraiya and Sasuke inside his mouth, the giant toad becomes smaller until it's the same size of any normal toad. Then it turns around and hops away to the stream. It jumps in and swims with the current. Everyone keeps their eyes on the toad till it disappears from sight. Or the others did but even when they started their conversation, Itachi was still staring at the stream and where he last saw the toad go before disappearing completely.

"And there he goes," Suigetsu grumbles, sounding completely bored. He lets out a sigh to then show that he's disappointed. "We all know that Itachi is the strongest of us all and now his mini-me is off to become even stronger. It almost makes me want to give up being a shinobi."

Mikoto tries to say, "Suigetsu honey, you must understand that we have no control over things like this. You are just as strong as your siblings. Just keep training hard and never give up." Granny Cat only watches. She will decide rather to take part in this conversation or not. So much like a cat.

"Mom, I know you're trying to be supporting but let's be real here. Itachi nii is on a whole other level and Sasuke otouto is the only one who can reach that level. Sometimes, I feel like I'm adopted."

"Well you certainly didn't inherit dad's charming good looks," Karin comments. "Or mom's."

"Neither did you," Suigetsu attacks back. "You were defiantly adopted since you don't even look remotely close to them. You're an unattractive little girl."

"What was that?"

"Why did he have to go alone?"

Hearing that, the three of them look at Itachi. All they see is his back but from how tight his fists are at his side, he's angry and ready to explode. He grits his teeth together to try and control himself as he asks again but more harshly, "Why did Sasuke have to go alone? He's only six years old for crying out loud."

"Itachi-kun," Mikoto calls in her comforting, loving motherly voice. "I know parting with him is harder on you than it is on us because I know how close you two are but you must understand that this must be done. They ask for Sasuke and so only he must go."

"But he's only a child!"

Before Itachi completely loses his cool on their mom, Suigetsu buts in saying, "Look, Itachi onii. We all know how deeply in love you are with Sasuke otouto but-"

He couldn't finish. A fist comes at him and aims right for his head. But thankful, his body can turn into water so when the fist attacked him, there was a splash and his head was demolished as the water lands on the ground. The thing was that the fist didn't come from Karin for once. It came from Itachi. It happened so fast. It was one moment, Itachi was facing the stream and the next he's in front of Suigetsu and he already attacked him by turning Suigetsu's head into nothing but water. That was entirely unexpected. Itachi is always so cool and collected. He would never lost his temper so easily or lose it at all. Sure he would get upset and irritated with Suigetsu's and Karin's behavior but he never get so angry that he would actually hit his younger brother. Karin, Mikoto, and Granny Cat have every right to have shocked and astounded expressions on their faces when they see Suigetsu's head splattered everywhere. After part of his head lands on the ground, it quickly moves on its own to the body and the head starts to form back.

"What was that for?" Suigetsu asks as soon as he got a mouth to talk with.

"Shut your mouth."

When Suigetsu got his eyes back, he wasn't angry anymore. In fact, his expression is now the same as the rest of his family's. The look on Itachi's face is an expression they never see him have, ever.

"You are really starting to annoy me, little brother."

Then he turns around and walks away, leaving his family to stand there and watch him walk back home.

When Itachi arrives alone, the first place he goes to instead of his bedroom is Sasuke's room. He opens the door to the empty room and sees it as nothing more than a depressing reminder that he was here. The twin size bed in the corner across from the door was always too big for Sasuke but when he asked Itachi to stay with him, it became the perfect size for the two of them. The sheets are white as well as the one pillow cover but the comforter is blue, his favorite color. Across from the bed on the other side of the room is a book shelf all in perfectly neat order and color coded and alphabetical order. Sasuke is usually so messy but Mikoto made him clean his room before he had to leave and when he decides to clean, he cleans. Next to that book shelf and a few ways over, is a dust free, gleaming oak desk with its notebooks piled together in one corner, pencils and pens lined up, and a stack of paper besides it. Only when he's going to clean is Sasuke a neat freak. The other times, he can be such a slob.

Besides the door, on Itachi's right side is a counter with a fire lamp and a picture on top. He closes the door behind him and he picks up the picture. Unlike the family picture and the picture of just the two of them he put in the locket, this one is another family one that they all took on Sasuke's fifth birthday. Itachi really doesn't like cameras so this picture, and the locket pictures, are really special. The people of Konoha told him that all Sasuke needed were the clothes on his back and anything else he can carry on himself. They're going to supply whatever it is he needs there. So he couldn't take this picture and Itachi made him that locket, even though the picture he's holding now is Sasuke's absolute favorite.

It was probably the only picture that Suigetsu and Karin were in at the same time and they weren't glaring at each other. It was after a slight cake fight that helped lighten the mood for this picture. Of course Karin started it and Suigetsu responded. Soon Sasuke got in it and Itachi was caught in the fire of it all. All but Itachi, of course, started laughing and at the end of it and Mikoto took that chance to get a camera. While the mood was still good, she took a picture and they pose for it. Sasuke was sitting on Itachi's shoulders with his little arms hugging his head. Itachi had an eye closed and his open eye was looking up at his youngest brother from the hug. Suigetsu on one side of Itachi and Karin on the other. Suigetsu and Karin were both smiling happily while both giving the camera the peace sign. They were all covered in cake and frosting, Sasuke having the most frosting on his face and clothes, Karin and Suigetsu having it all in their faces and some on their hair, and Itachi then had frosting as a new hair accessory. He wasn't smiling in the picture but Sasuke was and his smile is the brightest of them all. He had a tooth missing from training but that was okay. He was still adorable then as he is now.

"_**Nii-san!"**_

He can still hear his little voice calling for him. Rather it would be helping him train, play with him, read him a story, carry him, or sleep with him. He would always call for him with that absolutely adorable, pitchy high voice that turns you into goo the moment you hear it. But now that he's gone, Itachi will probably never hear it calling for him again. The house will be empty. There will be no life with him gone. Itachi's world is going to end. A bit over dramatic for him but that's how it feels and that is what he predicts will happen.

"Sasuke…"

Then a water drop lands on the picture glass. It was only one for a moment and then several begin to fall from Itachi's chin after rolling down his face like waterfalls. That was why his family was so shocked when they saw his expression. They saw the tears building up in his eyes and they saw how truly heartbroken he is. For as long as they can possibly remember, they have never seen Itachi cry. Even when he was in Otogakure, he didn't cry. He had to be strong for his father and his family so his tears dried up and his heart became stone. Then Sasuke was born after the terror was over and light appeared in Itachi's dark heart.

Sasuke was more precious to him than anybody can ever realize. That time in the forest when Orochimaru and Kabuto appear, it took everything Itachi had to not destroy those men when they appeared before him. It would have been so easily but then he would have Sasuke seeing something he really shouldn't. He's so pure and innocent, so guileless. A fight like that would make him fear Itachi and he would rather die than have that. They say you never truly know how precious someone is until you lose them. Itachi always knew how precious he was but he never knew the separation would be this bad. He can't even stand anymore. His legs become weak with grief as he collapses to the ground and the tears continue to fall.

"Sasuke…

* * *

**I told you it was sad but this means that Itachi is not taking Sasuke's departure very well at all. Goes to show how close they really were to each other.**

**But how was it? Bad? Good? Please, please, please let me know! Till next time!**


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